Lens-polishing machine.



, UNITED STATES PATENT OBFICE.-`

c'LABENcE E; QUIMBY, or GENEVA; NEW Yoan, AssIGNoR To rrHE STANDARD oETIcAL conrANin or GENEVA, NEW YoRK, A CORPORATION or NEW Yon-x.'

LENS-POLISHING- MACHINE..

To all whomfit may concern: I

Be it known thatI, CLARENCE E. QUIMBE;v

of Geneva, in the' county of Ontario, in the i 'State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lens-Polishing Machines, of which the following`,rtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

'is a-'full,4 clear, and exact description.

`This invention relates to cert-ain improvements `in lens-polishing machines, andjrefers l more particularly to machines'for grinding or polishing plain or spherical surfacesin grindingsurface conforming to the sur abe which a multiplicity of lenses are mounted. upon a single rotary form andare engaged by. a )separately movable disk havin a of' the bed upon which, the lensesare ad- `hesively secured. The essential obj ed, and to'support upon thesurfaces of such lenses, a grinder or polisher having a di' ameter much. smallerI than the block vor i tary block or form.

form,- f andto adjust said polisher in such manner that yone of its edges is substantially coincident with the center, whilethe vother edge protrudes some distance beyond the periphery ofthe block or form.

-I A further-object isto support the ing4 disk in suchmanner as to, permit it to revolve' freely-aboutits center by reason' of its contact with the'moving lenses on the ro'- other-objects and uses win be briighuouf -in the' following description. In thedrawings- Figure l isa rtop plan of a lens'fp'olishing machine embodying the' various' features of' my invention. Fig. 2 is a transversevertical sectional view through thexce'nter 'of the lsame machine. In order `to demonstrate the practicability of .this invention, I' have-showny a rotary form or bed 1eas disposed ina substanlly horizontal position and. secured' tothe gis'per 'end 'of a rotary shaft -2- 1-which in Fig.

-1-5 is made to conform to the finished surface-ofthe lens which it is desired to roduce'and is usuallyprovided with a coat- 'ingof adhesive, commonly usedjin such i'n-l polish- Specication o1' LetteraPatent.v `:Patellid Nov. 2 3, 1909. App'uaunl'ea January 4,1907. seria1 No. 350,781;

stances, and'by whichthe'. blank lenses 'are firmly'held upon the upper face of the form .during the rotation of the'latter.

A circular poli hing disk 5-- is supported above and upon the upper faces of the lenses -i-aat'one side-of the axis of revolution ofthe form -1-, said polishing disk being of much less diameter than that of` the form' le and is usually held eccentrically to 'said form. by ma vertical spindle -6-' having a spherical lower end the spindle .-.6- being:- adjustably secured by a set screw to a vhorizontal laterally' adjustable arm #-8- which, in turn, is secured to )a hub 9- 'upon a vertical spindle ect of my invention Ais to t revolve the block or v form upon' which a multiplicity of lenses are adhesively-mount-- -loosely seated in the socket `7 and .forms a bearing upon which thepolishing disk -5 may rotate freely, said A:rotation being veffected by contact' of the polishing surface of the diskwith the upper faces of the .lense'sduring the .rotation of thelens suplenses 'are adhesivelyv secured.

As best seen in Fig. l, the diameter of. the polishing disk -.-5fis slightly greater thanVV the radius of thelens' supporting bed or bracket -l- 8-\-l is vadjusted so as to hold the polishing disk v--5 with one sidev of its yperiphery in 'cl-ose proximity to the axis of the' 'lens supporting form -l-f so that the diametricallyopposite side of the disk will,

surface io' precipitate or fall beyond the peripheryof the lens supporting form. `bracket -8+ is preferably pivoted at its outer' lend at 11- to the sleeve --9'-, the latter being adjustable vertically along the vstandard 10jand' is held in its adjusted position by aset screw l2-,the inner end ofl the bracket -8 which carriesthe spi-ndle--f is therefore rockable or adjustablevertically upon its pivot l1- to disengage the lowerend lof the spindle from 'the socket -7-., thereby ermitting the removal ',of' the polishing whenever desirable.. The upright `Ashaft {'-2- to which the lensl supporting -forl'n fies is secured .is journaled in suitable bearings 13- and leiupon the .main supporting frame, as -.15-.-, which also carries 'the upright standard -10,. vThe bracket or rock-arm .-8- and' its supporting sleeve -9- are also adapted to be rocked laterally upon the axis of the sup orting spindle -10-`-, thereby correspon mgly shlftlng the spindle -6- and causing the polishing disk -5- to traverse across the face of thel lens supporting form --1- whenever lthis action may be desired, and in fact, in some instances, I may prefer to move the: polish- .ing disk .-f back and forth across the l5 l latter b eing usually placed between the polishin surface'and surfaces of the lenses, and 1n most instances, is usually applied with a brush or other means directly to the .upper surfaces of the lenses, and is then -drawn orsp'read evenly oveil the lenses by the rotary action of the lens supporting form and polishing disk.

Although ,the lateral swinging laction of the arm or bracket l'-8 permits the polishing disk to traverse theface of the lenssupporting disk, said arm or bracket lis preferably held bythe set screwv ,-v-lQ- /in one position -to support the polishing disk feccentrica-lly .with reference tothe .lens support-nig form with the one side or edge ofi-,the

iolishing disk at or near the axis of the lensorm -l;oand itsfdiametrically opposite edge extending some distance beyond the 'periphery of said form. vThis relativ'larran ement'and comparatively smaller .size

heldupon the surface of the form by reason, 5 5

of t e polishing diskexposestheniajor portion, in this instance, practically two-thirds ofthe entire'upper surface of the 'lens sup-- porting form, thereby exposing the majorl ew of the lenses are 'covered by the polish'- ing disk, and this, only fora brief interval of. time, which permits the lens-form to be revolved at a comparatively highl speed With.- out liability of overheating theI lenses, or softening the adhesive by which they'are of the fact that the .major portion of the lenses are exposed to the cooling influence -o-f the air, which cooling influence may bel further augmented by the distribution of a ab lsmall quantity of cooled water which is allowed to drip through a. suitable-supplynozvvzle 1'7.-l upon or ,near ,the center o f the lens-supporting form, from whlch point 1t is carried by centrifugal `force or' grayit-.y from lthe `center downwardly vto the periphery ofsaid form between and across the sur-l Y stationary forms.

portion of the lenses while( comparatively the `lenses are exposed to face of the lenses, thereby removing any foreign matter which might be drawn upon .upon the lenses, thus keeping the surface of the block clean and also preventing damage to the lenses from such foreign matter. VIt is also clear that by reason of the fact that. the major portion of the surface ofthe block is exposed to the air, and that part. of the polishing diskv which project-s beyond the periphery of theblock is also exposed, and that the air or other cooling agent-which is introduced upon the ex osed lenses and surface of the block, sai block may revolve at a high rate of speed, and the polishing disk 4may also be weighted far beyond what would be practicable under the system of polishing now in general use'.

By my improved method of polishing, the time required to bring thelenses to the desired state of perfection, is materially reduced, and at the same time I am enabled to secure afar greater percentage of perfect lenses thanv is possible inthe use of fixed or In operation, the lenses to be groundor polished are adhesively secured to the sur# face `of the form -l, after which, the polishing disk -5- having its polishing surface conforming to the adjacent face of 100.-

the lens supporting form, is placed upon the upper surface of a portion-of the lenses'atl one side o f the axis of rotation of said form- With one side slightly overhanging or projecting slightly beyond the periphery of vthe 1 forme-1T, where it is held in such position by thebracket -8- and spindle -6-, and is free torevolve around the lower end of said spindle. 1

After the polishing disk --5- is properly 1 placed the lens-suporting form -1'- with its lenses firmly a herin'g" thereto, is rotated ata comparatively high rate of speed through the medium of the driving shaft-+3@- and" intermeshing gears 4-, the driving shaft 1 being adapted to Ybe connected to any available source ofnower not necessary to herein illustrate or describe.

During the grinding orvpolishing operation, the polishing disk -5-- is causedto'1 its contact with the' moving lenses2 and owingto the fact that the greater portion of the air or other cooling agent, the heat developetkby fricl tion between. the contactingl surfaces? of the .lenses and polishingdiskis kept ata suf-LF ficientlylow temperature' to prevent saften-l at thesame time, any foreign matter which 1 v'rotate at a greater or less speed by reason of ing of the adhesive or loosening of the lenses', 36.1

. its rotation,- itbeing apparent thatany liqmay accumulate upon-the surface of the lens supporting'forni, or between the lenses, is

expelled by .centrifugalforce which may be' further augmented ,by introducing a small quantity vof 'water or other cleansing liquid upon the surface of the block or form durlng uid which might be employed for this-.purpose will 4be instantly thrown by centrifugal force from the center to the periphery of the form, thereby-following the channels or interstices between the lenses, and thor oughly 'cleansing the 'lens-supporting form,

l from any foreign'matterwhich might scratch -or otherwise injure the lenses Aby being drawn thereon by. the polishing 'diskL f 'What I claimisf.

1. A lens polishing machine eomprisin .a

4rotaryv foimadapted to support a, mu tipli'cityl of lenses, an. adjustable arm over` hanging the upper face of the form, a spin- -dle carried by said arm and 'having aspherical lower end, and a` rota-r polishing disk having .its upper face provi ed with a socket for the reception of said spherical end of the spindle whereby a ball and socket-joint isprovided between the spindle. andthe disk,

said disk having itslowerface in contact lwith the lenses on the form and rotated by said contact, said disk of' greater diameter than the radius of the form 2. lens polishing machine lcomprisin a rotary form adapted to support a inutiplicity of lenses, .an arm overhanging the 'upper face of the form, a spindle-adjustably connectedto said arm and havinga spher# ical lowerend and a rotary polishing' disk having a socket -in its upper face for the-reccption'lof said spherical end of the. spindlewhereby n ball and socketjoint'is provided bef-,Ween the Spindle ad the disk, SaidA disk .having its-lowerface in contact with said lenses and rotatable by said Contact.

disk having its lower'face in "contact with the lenses onA the form contact. j

.4.YA lens polishing machine comprising a.4 rotary form adapted'to support a multi' plicity of, lenses, the upper Asurface of said-4 form conforming to the .finishedsurface of the lenses -which fit is' desired.l to produce,

`means for securing the lenses of the form, an adjustable arm overhangingv the'upp'er face ofthe form,a spindle carried by said arm, a rotary polishing disk having 'a central bearing, and loose connections between the lower end of the-spindle and center of the disk whereby saidl disk is, revoluble relatively. to

and rotated. by saidV l arm, and a spindle carried bythe arm 'and sol and separable from thespindle, said disk.

bein ofug'reater diameter than the radius of the orin and having'v its lowerfacein contact with the 'lenses onthe form and rotated by such Contact.

In witness whereof .I have hereunto set r .my hand this lstday of December. 1906..

. CLARENCE E. QUIMBY.`

Witnesses.: A;

' ELIZABETH PRENDERGAST,

i G B. ROGERS. 

